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We know Alice Paul as the suffragist leader who achieved passage of the 19th Amendment
and authored the original Equal Rights Amendment. But when Paul met Feminists
for Life co-founder Pat Goltz, Paul told Pat that FFL was not the first pro-life
feminist group. Alice Paul said she and other first-wave feminists opposed abortion
too.
The same belief in human rights that inspired abolition became the undulating impulse
that gave birth to feminism.
The first feminists–who had no legal right to vote, testify on their own behalf,
or sit on a jury–affirmed the fundamental liberty of every woman, just as many
had affirmed the fundamental liberty of every enslaved person. Denied the right
to stop marital rape, control their own finances, or (with the exception of Oberlin
College) pursue higher education, the first feminists still found strength to give
voice to the most vulnerable, including born children in need of empowered parents
and unborn children peacefully floating in their mothers’ wombs.
When I first started at Feminists for Life, an opponent of FFL’s emerging voice
alleged we offered only one pro-life quote from one lone suffragist that we kept
repeating over and over again. Famous historians peddled the claim that there was
no documentation of Susan B. Anthony’s opposition to abortion.
But thanks to the late Mary Krane Derr, who was commissioned by the FFL Board of
Directors to research The Revolution (published by Susan B. Anthony and co-edited
by Elizabeth Cady Stanton) and Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly (published by Victoria
Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin), we established an undeniable consensus among early
feminists against the horror of abortion. Other researchers like Suzanne Schnittman,
Lisa Bellecci-st. romain, and Ruth Moynihan dove deeper, bringing our rich pro-life
feminist history forward into the light.
The early feminists had a spectrum of opinions and pursuits within their movement,
just as we have within pro-life feminism today. Like second wave feminists of the
1970s, many of whom strayed from feminism’s original non-violent tenets, some of
the first wave feminists’ words and actions can be disappointing-even offensive.
Suzanne Schnittman warned me long ago that these were not perfect people any more
than we are.
Without known exception, every first-wave feminist who spoke out on abortion strongly
opposed it. Some addressed the unmet needs of women driven to abortion; others
focused on the children threatened by it; and all expressed intense and unwavering
opposition to it.
Feminists for Life surges forward to fulfill the urgent, unrealized dreams of first-wave
feminists Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, and others–to systematically eliminate
the root causes that drive women to abortion.
While we seek solutions in homes, the workplace, schools, and communities–especially
for those at highest risk of abortion–we stay true to our core feminist beliefs
of nonviolence, nondiscrimination, and justice for all.
Your support ensures that through our advocacy and education we can reach that once-far
shore [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001uxXlJHz_agt_KyTK-ZG1iu-G7f1240JNO8aj9_qEy2NwxX3hF1qi1zQPT-qvbrIwDrf7Hi2n3rOV1gVFPwDiqGjbRRblGHAaH-K0LRwWButD0EtSWXL7p-X88FBt0kXoLE_rEy53cB8d3AQm7mE4QPxRTAuebsV3-iri01ZcmfwoaDc2bfZMJyTAV8M3iYLGZ5JWnKFhrnQ=&c=Ij8piOkwpRromd3428GvHs9zk-7aTLodOWuOO_kW7fO-De-dhX6Nog==&ch=aJOcbZpjQPemp-uZzWGoIGcx_SfGVrxzn3iUxB_DPmLDhAK8MyoMyA==].
That day, when no woman feels driven to abortion, is coming-propelled ever faster
by you.
That day is coming.
Because women deserve better,
Serrin M. Foster
President
PS. If you haven’t received the latest copy of The American Feminist®. with Serrin’s
intro (above), please contact member services to ensure your support is current
($35 or more annually/$25 for students.) Or join now at www.feministsforlife.org/support
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Join us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/feministsforlife [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001uxXlJHz_agt_KyTK-ZG1iu-G7f1240JNO8aj9_qEy2NwxX3hF1qi12hksWFUYzuAcEga9rwJ1Mwq6TuR_4oIv5vQgS8IUK376wYRwQ6vGAeMMYQQkalQZtCFR3Jds69LZ5B1yih6Vs6OyULYIb4u1vlQJgufbHjeQcN93qwIxNpus_JziFlv-lEntHwYdNdm&c=Ij8piOkwpRromd3428GvHs9zk-7aTLodOWuOO_kW7fO-De-dhX6Nog==&ch=aJOcbZpjQPemp-uZzWGoIGcx_SfGVrxzn3iUxB_DPmLDhAK8MyoMyA==])
as we discuss the suffragists featured in this issue. Thank you!
Women Deserve Better, The American Feminist, and Remarkable Pro-Life Women
are a registered trademarks of Feminists for Life of America.
Feminists for Life of America is a 501©3 nonprofit.
Membership contributions and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed
by law.
For more information, go to http://www.feministsforlife.org/support/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001uxXlJHz_agt_KyTK-ZG1iu-G7f1240JNO8aj9_qEy2NwxX3hF1qi1zQPT-qvbrIwDrf7Hi2n3rOV1gVFPwDiqGjbRRblGHAaH-K0LRwWButD0EtSWXL7p-X88FBt0kXoLE_rEy53cB8d3AQm7mE4QPxRTAuebsV3-iri01ZcmfwoaDc2bfZMJyTAV8M3iYLGZ5JWnKFhrnQ=&c=Ij8piOkwpRromd3428GvHs9zk-7aTLodOWuOO_kW7fO-De-dhX6Nog==&ch=aJOcbZpjQPemp-uZzWGoIGcx_SfGVrxzn3iUxB_DPmLDhAK8MyoMyA==]
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